The last three weeks have been busy and I took my son’s words to heart…if you want to do something then do it!
Here’s what I have been working on the past couple of weeks:
Home repairs professionally done – New kitchen countertops, rip out over-the-oven microwave and replace with new exhaust hood, trim all fruit trees and cut down all sumac in the hedgerow.
I am putting all of these repairs and projects on hold for now because we need to concentrate on getting the credit cards paid off. Some of these we will work on ourselves when we have time.
Home projects done by us – Paint all trim in kitchen, re-paint upper kitchen cabinets, paint ceiling and walls in hallway, finish painting and put up picket pallet fencing, finish painting master bedroom and hang mantle over bed, front porch stained or painted, new brick patio in the backyard.
Two Thursdays ago, I took the day off and worked my butt off on placing the bricks for the patio! It was a big job and my Hubby wasn’t very happy with me that I didn’t wait for him but hey, he was pretty happy when he saw it. There is still more to do but at least the bricks are in place. Whew!
Home projects done so far: Hang mantle over bed
Sewing projects – Finish Joyce’s Rose, New curtains for kitchen window, new seat cover for kitchen chair, new curtain over cat’s window seat, Christmas tree skirt, finish winter and summer season x-stitch projects
I stitched a ton more on Summer House. It’s coming along. 😊
Read 30 books (It’s my goal every year)
I finished reading three more books in the last 3 weeks.
The Murder on the Links, by Agatha Christie, Game On: Tempting Twenty-Eight by Janet Evanovich and The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis. I was a little behind in my Stephanie Plumb books so I was excited to listen to number 28 while I was driving. Who listens to CD’s in the car anymore? Me! My car still has a CD player. Murder on the Links was ok. It’s a little hard to follow because if you aren’t paying close attention you get a little lost. The echo of Old Books in the end was very good but it took a bit to get there. I almost gave up on it half way through because it was kind of boring but I pushed through and I am glad I did!
Books read so far in 2024:
1. “Not Quite Prince Charming”, by Liz Talley
2. “Buttercups in the Basement”, by Jane Harvey
3. “Searching for Sandra”, by Jane Harvey
4. “Christmas at Hummingbird House”, by Jane Harvey
5. “Perfectly Charming”, by Liz Talley
6. “Home for Christmas”, by Lloyd C. Douglas
7. “Witch Is When I Said Goodbye”, by Adele Abbott
8. “The Sun and Her Flowers”, by Rupi Kaur
9. “God Never Blinks“, by Regina Brett
10. “The Mysterious Affair at Styles”, by Agatha Christie
11. “Witch is When Stuff Got Serious”, by Adele Abbott
12. “The Murder on the Links“, by Agatha Christie
13. “Game On: Tempting Twenty-Eight”, by Janet Evanovich
14. “The Echo of Old Books“, by Barbara Davis
That’s 14 books read. 16 to go.
Take at least 2 mini vacations and see my step-daughter’s new house in NC.
We plan on going to NC for a Chiefs Panthers game, and then I get to see my Step-Daughter’s new house!
Garden goals – raise 500 lbs of produce, new kitchen garden in front and new fruit garden in back, compost all dug and reset, raised bed garden re-imagined.
Lots done in the gardening dept at the Ripley homestead. I planted four varieties of onions including, Yukon gold potatoes, Lunchbox peppers, green bell peppers, some celery, eggplant, lettuce, spinach, peas, a bush bean variety and a pole bean variety. The garlic is now putting out scapes.
I planted 12 more varieties indoors. Tons of pumpkins, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash and a few flowers and in two weeks they are huge!
I did some more work on my two new raised beds. Every day I try to accomplish something outside.
Exercise somehow every single day concentrating most on core and pelvic floor and mobility.
Gardening is definitely counting as exercise right now. Hauling those bricks 12 at a time with a wheelbarrow for 5 hours most certainly counts as a full body workout.
Get all of my Etsy listings listed by March 31st so I can enjoy my garden in the Spring and summer months.
I only got 6 more listings up since last update. I have been so busy in the garden that Etsy has kind of taken a back seat.
Explore the Western NY Antique Trail (Yes, there is such a thing).
Nothing more on this one.
Explore at least 3 local walking/biking trails.
After Little League is done and I have my husband back I will work on this goal.
Sell 300 listings on Etsy this year.
I sold 12 more listings in the past few weeks! 108 down, 192 to go!
Church goals – Six thrift sales this year, Work on baptism records and historical info, work on getting our church info out there for weddings, one historical themed event/fundraiser this year.
Our next thrift sale is this coming Saturday!
Pay off one of the two credit cards.
I do have an update on this but I’ll post separately.
That’s all I have for now. I am getting there and feel I just need to be more organized on my days off to get some of these things knocked off my list.
What have you all been up to? Got anything good growing in the garden? Any trips planned? Let me know! – MM
P.s. if you would like to check out my Etsy shop here is the link https://redmillvintageandnew.etsy.com
The Professional Domestic 